


second friendship

by thor_odinson



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: First Meeting, Other, demisexual!gansey, technically not but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 14:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18943267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thor_odinson/pseuds/thor_odinson
Summary: They find each other again, and start anew.





	second friendship

I stole glances at him across the bar. Him at one end, me at the other. He sat alone, drink in hand. Something about him struck me as odd, or familiar, or a mix of the two. I couldn't place what it was but he was intriguing. 

‘You want a refill on that?’ asked Adam, pointing at my almost empty glass. ‘It’s on me.’

I shook my head. ‘No thanks,’ I said distractedly, eyeing the guy again. 

Adam followed my gaze and laughed. ‘Look at you, falling in love at first sight.’

I looked at him pointedly, finishing off my drink. ‘I’m not in love,’ I said. ‘He’s just cute.’ 

Adam nodded. The barman refilled his drink and he took a sip. ‘Yes, that he is.’ He paused midway through lifting his glass to his lips. ‘Maybe you should go and talk to him?’ 

I froze. I’d been to bars endless times but I'd never ever worked up the courage to  _ talk _ to anyone I found cute. That was mainly due to the fact that I knew what drinks and bars and cute boys led to and that I was not ready at all to have it lead to that. 

Not at this stage, anyway.

Adam raised an eyebrow at me, sensing my discomfort. ‘Not all interactions with new people are gonna lead to sex, Dick.’ 

‘But what if they  _ do _ ? You know that's not gonna go well on my end. Especially not while I've been drinking.’ 

‘I know. But you don't even know if he's into guys and if he's not, then you know you're fine.’ 

I sighed. Adam was right. I knew he was right. He knew I knew he was right. 

‘Alright, fine. I'll go speak to him. But you're gonna be on this floor if I need to leave, right?’

‘Mhm. You know how to reach me.’ He paused. ‘Remember, you don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, okay? He should respect that. And if he doesn't, run. And if he doesn't let you run, fight. You get me?’ 

I stared at the boy warily, all sorts of scenarios flashing in my mind, most of them decidedly not good. 

And then he looked up. Looked round. At me. My breath caught in my throat. I got off my barstool, eyes still piercing his. I mumbled a, ‘Yeah, I get you. See you later,’ to Adam and made my way to this mysterious man. 

I stood next to him, glanced at where I'd been. Adam had gone. I turned back round to the boy, and noted his dark complexion, his buzz cut, his brown eyes. The odd feeling from earlier seemed all too prominent. 

I sucked in a breath. ‘Hi,’ I said shakily. 

‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Care to take a seat? He gestured to the stool beside him.

I blinked. ‘If that's okay with you?'

He turned back to the bar. ‘Wouldn't have asked if it wasn't,’ he said with a shrug.

I sat reluctantly. The boy glanced at me, and I felt a weird sense of déjà vu. I shook it off. I was tipsy. It was stupid.

But then he frowned. Took a sip of his drink. 

‘Do I know you?’ 

I started. ‘I–I don't think so—’

Yet the more I looked at him, the more familiar he seemed. The more I stared, the more I felt I knew him. 

‘You were at that parade thing,’ he said slowly. ‘Weren’t you? Years ago. The one where… that happened.’ 

I racked my brains, turned his words over in my head. 

_ Oh.  _

I swallowed. ‘Yes,’ I replied hesitantly. ‘I was.’ 

He laughed bitterly. ‘Long time, no see, huh?’ 

I raised my eyebrows, resting my elbows on the bar. ‘Yep. As far as first meetings go, we really took the cake for that.’ 

He sipped his drink again, staring ahead. ‘You helped me get away.’

My lips twisted in a half smile, the memories of that night flooding my brain. ‘I’m glad I did. I’m glad you got away.’

He looked at me, eyes mischievous. ‘Some “Pride”, huh?’

I fisted my hands, remembering the sirens and the yelling and the blood and how his mother and father were nowhere to be found. How I dragged him away from the madness, telling him that we could come back and look for them but we needed to get away,  _ now.  _ How we never had the chance to go back for so many different reasons. 

I shook my head, plastering on a smile. I held out my hand to him, shaking slightly. ‘Hi. I'm Gansey. Richard Gansey. Nice to meet you.’

He chuckled, lightly grasping my hand in his own. ‘Nice to meet you, Gansey. I'm Ronan.’

We shared a smile, and he got his drink filled up. ‘So,’ he said. ‘How are things? I've not seen you for a while, tell me what's being going on in your life.’ 

I told him what had been going on, and while I did so, I noticed the easy, natural conversation we had slipped into. Any previous worries about having to do things I’d be uncomfortable with dissipated from my mind, leaving me relaxed and confident as I remade a friend. 


End file.
